It was only in 1924 granted Indians the right of citizens of the United States. In the second half of the twentieth century, the Indians began to return to cultivate their customs. They demanded equal rights and opportunities remain in line with its own traditions.
Today in the United States live in reserves of about four million Indians. They have their own schools, where, in addition to the mandatory program have classes with handicrafts, learn languages, the history of the tribe. Despite the enormous influence of American culture, the old tradition is still cultivated and passed on to future generations.
One of today’s leaders of the Blackfoot tribe, Leon Rattler, that tells the story of contemporary Indian life:
“On the one hand, it is like around the world, young people do not want to pay attention to the old traditions, they want to fit in the modern world, music, fashion. But on the other hand, they never forget that they are the Black Feet. [… ] what is the most valuable, is our way of life. we are well prepare to protect and promote our culture. Obecnei this is possible, but only in years the end of the seventies of the twentieth century. In 1992, a new law establishing that we can learn our language, and in 2000, Montana passed that all schools in the state must carry out activities related to indigenous culture. ”
Everyday life in the reserve is not different from life in an ordinary small town America. Many of them live in big houses, drive cars and watching TV. The differences are reflected in the approach to Indian life, their mentality and philosophy of life. They are positive about life, cheerful, they do not fear death. They are humble towards life claiming that a man dies very little about the life of knowing and knowing little about the world. Indians are guided more heart than reason.
(Ed. For Basic. Newspapers Biskupin numbers from September 2003).